


Her Safety

by rose_willow



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Everyone is friends, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Some Explicit Language, i don't know how to tag, talks machina inspired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 06:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13875516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rose_willow/pseuds/rose_willow
Summary: Based off of Brian W. Foster's question, "Does he care more about Nott's safety than perhaps his own right now?" and Liam O'Brien's answer, "That's too hard to answer right now."Basically, Beauregard asks Caleb a VERY similar question and Caleb thinks about it during a stressful moment.





	Her Safety

_"Do you value her safety over your own?”_

With a sense of shame, Caleb remembered his inability to answer the question at the time that Beauregard had asked it.

_They’d been resting around a gentle fire in the middle of nowhere, camping for the night after a long day of travel, when Beauregard had interrupted the silence with her unrelated question. Caleb had been absentmindedly playing with Nott’s stringy hair as she rested her head on his knee, curled up and sleeping soundly with an expression of contentment on her face._

_Her question had snapped him from his musings and he jumped slightly before directing his attention towards her. “Sorry?”_

_“It’s obvious that she cares for you.” They were all pretty wary of the l-word, but “cares” got the message across._

_Caleb furrowed his brows in offense. “She is my friend. Of course I care about her.”_

_Beauregard frowned. “That’s not what I asked. I asked if you value her safety over your own.”_

_Caleb opened his mouth to answer, but no words would cross his tongue. The air caught in his throat and he turned his attention to the small girl on his knee. She was still sleeping, even after his jolt from surprise, and her ear was gently twitching like a cat’s. He told himself that the question was too hard to answer at that moment._

As the tentacled creature dropped Caleb to the floor, the memory of this conversation sprang to his mind. Why, he didn’t know, but it did. Gasping in pain, he sank to his knees and fell to the ground, hands wrapping around his abdomen as pain shot through his system. He’d taken too much damage from that grapple and he could feel the bones grinding in his chest and hip. Blood trickled down the corner of his mouth and he coughed as he desperately clung to consciousness and life.

A shout above him drew his attention and he saw an enraged flash of green launch itself - or, rather, herself - onto the back of the creature. Nott sunk her blade deeply into the monster’s hide before drawing it out and plunging it in again, using the buried blade to hold on. Her teeth were bared in a snarl and her eyes were filled with anger as she scratched at it with her back feet. The creature wailed and writhed as the rest of their little party fired whatever magic they had and slashed with the blades in their hands.

Caleb’s eyes grew wide as a tentacle came up and snatched at Nott’s small body, pulling her away from where she had been gripping her blade and flinging her into the air. The breath caught in his throat for a different reason than his being injured as the creature bashed Nott into the side of the cavern, crushing her against the wall. Caleb didn’t know it was him that was screaming for her until he felt the fresh pain in his throat.

As the tentacle let go and pulled away from the small goblin girl, Caleb watched her head loll as she fell down the wall and struck the stone floor with a sickening thud.

A litany of phrases passed through Caleb’s mind, but all that would come out of his mouth was a plea no louder than a whisper.

“Not my little girl . . .”

Pushing himself up to his elbows, he dug his fingers into the ground and started to drag himself towards her, eyes locked on her twisted body as he scraped his way across the floor. The bones in his hip and chest were screaming and grinding, but he ignored them. Every few drags, a cough of blood would make its way up his throat, but he neglected his own deteriorating condition in favor of getting to her.

It took him more time that it should have to cross the 20 foot space, but he didn’t care as long as he got there and she was still alive. His breath was coming in ragged gasps by the time he reached her and his elbows shook with the effort of supporting his torso. But none of that mattered to him.

Dragging himself up beside her, Caleb gently rolled Nott into his arms and brushed the black hair out of her face. The green skin of her cheeks was ashen and twin streams of blood ran from her nose and mouth and joined at her chin. She reminded him of the bodies of the people that they were too late to save.

“Nonononono,” he whispered, positioning his finger under her nose. His heart pounded in his ears as he waited and tears started to come to his eyes before he felt the faintest tickle of air as her chest rose and fell in a shallow breath. He let his hand fall in relief and tipped his head down to press his forehead against hers. “Just hang on, mein klein. I’ve got you.”

His hand, shaking from his emotions and blood loss, reached to his belt and pulled free the vial that Nott had given to him a few adventures ago. He bit the cork out of the top and tipped it into her mouth, saying a prayer to whatever gods existed that he wasn’t too late. Just as he finished pouring the vial, a shadow passed over him and blocked out the light from the orbs he had sent into the air earlier. Glancing up, he saw the creature stumbling backwards towards him and Nott as the others had mistakenly driven it their way with attacks. A thick tentacle started to arch down towards him and, without a second thought, Caleb wrapped his body around the goblin girl in his arms.

The tentacle came down and the orbs in the chamber went dark.

 

* * *

 

Beauregard limped through the chamber and called out again. “Nott!” She could hear the shouts of the others doing the same thing as they searched for any sign of the other two members of their team.

The battle had finished moments earlier as Fjord had blasted it with . . . whatever he blasted things with to save a grappled Molly from being crushed. They’d all been relieved at having survived their most recent encounter, until they had turned to find their wizard and rogue. Neither of them could be seen. Not that she had a whole lot of light to go off of. Caleb’s lights had gone out shortly before they’d killed the creature.

That detail didn’t sit well in Beau’s mind.

“Nott, where are you? No-.” Her shout stopped midway through as she caught sight of a familiar shade of red hair. About 10 feet away from where she’d been walking and just within range of her decreased vision, she saw Caleb’s scraggly hair and part of his back from underneath a limp tentacle. “Yo, guys! I found Caleb!” She rushed forwards and grabbed the parts of him that she could reach before pulling. He was heavier than she was used to, but that may have just had to do with the fact that there was a massive tentacle on top of him.

A flash of color appeared at her side as Mollymauk arrived and another form that she assumed to be Fjord appeared on the other. A small voice was behind her and Beau knew that if Fjord was here, then Jester was too. She gave the body another tug as Fjord and Molly pushed up on the tentacle and, with their help and Jester’s (who was almost able to do the amount of lifting that Molly and Fjord could do combined), she managed to pull Caleb free from where he was trapped.

He was a mess. The skin visible beneath the dirt and blood was chalky and she could see bone where bone wasn’t supposed to be visible. After her initial inspection, she saw that his arms were tightly wrapped around something and, even in unconsciousness, they appeared to be locked in place like his body instinctively knew its purpose. Grabbing one arm, she managed to pull it out of the way just enough to catch sight of green. “Oh my gods - Nott!” The effort to pull Nott free sent Beauregard stumbling backwards as Jester ran forward to see if anything could be done for Caleb.

“C’mon, Traveler,” the blue tiefling whispered as she gripped the symbol at her waist and extended a hand towards Caleb. Light flowed from her palm as she closed her eyes in concentration and they all winced as they heard a few pops and snaps as Caleb’s body started to reform itself.

As she finished her spell, his blue eyes snapped open in panic and he gasped a name. “Nott!” He was still pale and violently shaking as his eyes started to manically search the air around him and his hands reached for something that wasn’t there.

In a moment of panic, Beauregard looked down at the bundle in her arms, fearing for the worst. If Nott was dead-

A raspy voice interrupted her as the bundle moved. “What the fuck?!”

Beau smiled into the yellow eyes of the little girl and gently set her on her feet. Nott stumbled slightly as her eyes fell on the still bleeding and partially broken body of Caleb where he had managed to prop himself up in his panic. Her yellow grew wide with worry as she dove to her knees beside him. “Caleb!? Are you alright?”

The mania dropped from Caleb’s features as he saw Nott standing in front of him, but there was still a hint of something that was hard to name.

Disbelief?

Sorrow?

Whatever it was vanished as he raised a shaking, blood-stained hand and tenderly cupped the side of Nott’s head. His shoulders relaxed and he smiled as Nott’s tiny clawed fingers reached up and took his.

“Now I am.”

 

* * *

 

Beauregard adjusted her grip on Caleb’s arm where it was slung over her shoulder and continued to help him through the passageways back towards the surface. Nott was “helping” to support Caleb on the other side. The image of a human pressing a hand to the top of a goblin’s head and using her like a cane would have been funny if they all weren’t so exhausted and hurt.

Beauregard adjusted Caleb again and cleared her throat.

“My social skills are kind of rusty, but that is the third time you have nearly pulled my arm from its socket in the last five minutes,” he whispered, trying to keep Nott from hearing. “I can’t help but feel like there is something you want to say.”

“Wow, that’s kind of a dick-thing to-.”

Caleb interrupted her. “I’m not trying to be a dick.” She looked over and saw only honesty in his blue eyes. “I am concerned. Is there something you need to talk about?”

Beau kept walking and looked down at Nott who, despite the weight of Caleb’s hand on her head, was swiveling her head and keeping lookout for the two humans. The monk was often amazed at the strength of the little goblin.

Clearing her throat, she whispered, “I’m sorry . . . You know . . . for wondering if you cared about her.”

Caleb nodded and was silent for a few moments as he looked down at the small goblin leading him. Leaning towards Beau’s head but still looking at Nott, Caleb responded, “There was a time when I wouldn’t have cared, and there was a time when I was surprised at how much I did care about her safety . . . but now I know.” Caleb finished by turning and giving a reassuring smile at Beau as she nodded back.

“What are you two whispering about?” Nott asked, turning to face Caleb but still managing to keep his hand on her head.

Caleb cleared his throat and answered, “We were just talking about how brave you were back there.”

Nott smiled and dipped her head sheepishly. “It was nothing.”

Caleb smiled fondly and ruffled her hair as Beau smiled to herself and turned her attention towards the light at the end of the tunnel.      

 


End file.
